Because esophageal cancer has a high rate of return during the first two years after treatment, it might be useful to know that black raspberries seem to be a deterrent to tumors. I’m going to find some black raspberry powder today. What can it hurt.
January 2009
Researchers from the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center fed rats either an anthocyanin-rich black raspberry extract or whole black raspberries, and report approximately the same level of prevention for esophageal cancer with each form.
“Our data provide strong evidence that anthocyanins are important for cancer prevention,” said the study’s lead author, Gary Stoner, PhD. The results were published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.
The Ohio State researchers used F344 rats and divided them into six groups. The groups consumed diets supplemented with: whole black raspberry powder (five percent); an anthocyanin-rich fraction; an organic solvent-soluble extract (these three diets all contained about 3.8 micromoles of anthocyanins per gram of diet); and organic-insoluble fraction (containing 0.02 micromoles of anthocyanins per gram of diet); a hexane extract from the raspberries; and a sugar fraction. The last two diets contained minimal amounts of anthocyanins.
The animals consumed these diets for two weeks before being treated with a compound called N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA) that is known to induce the formation of esophageal tumors.
Stoner and his co-workers report that the anthocyanin-rich extract was nearly as effective in preventing esophageal cancer in rats as whole black raspberries containing the same concentration of anthocyanins.
The researchers noted that the organic-insoluble fraction also showed some anti-cancer activity, indicating that compounds other than anthocyanins may be beneficial. They added that they are currently attempting to identify what these compounds may be. The other diet groups showed no benefits.
Cancer Prevention Research 2(1):84-93, 2008
